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Anglachel

A glowing black blade that could slice through iron; forged from a meteorite

Anglachel was the sword forged by Eöl the Dark Elf from a meteorite. Its mate was Anguirel. The blade was black but also glowed and was so hard that it could easily slice through iron. It was said that it was imbued with Eöl's malice and was apparently sentient.

In F.A.487 Thingol allowed Beleg Strongbow to take any weapon in his search of his friend Túrin Turambar, and he took Anglachel. He tracked down the Orcs taking Túrin captive to Angband and in the dead of night, sought to free him in secret. But when he used Anglachel to cut the bonds of Túrin, due to the spite of its forger it slipped and pricked the unconscious body of Túrin. Awakening from his stupor, Túrin thought the Orcs had returned to torture him, and during the struggle he slew Beleg with the blade. After the fight, Anglachel's edges became dull and turned a dead black and for that time ceased to glow with a 'pale fire'. This was attributed to its apparent sentience as Anglachel was in a state of mourning over the slaying of Beleg.

Túrin later reforged the sword with the help of the smiths of Nargothrond. The blade remained black, however, and Túrin renamed it Gurthang, meaning 'iron of death'. Anglachel was the sword that Túrin used to kill Glaurung.[1]

Christopher Tolkien notes that Anglachel contains the Sindarin word ang ("iron") and probably the element lhach ("leaping flame").[2] This would give the meaning "Flaming Iron". The last element in Anglachel could be êl ("star").[3]